These heads of cabbage will be shredded and frozen for winter meals.
Today the weather is lovely. Attila brought in three firm heads of Winter Keeper Cabbage from the garden, destined for the freezer.
Canning season is not upon us just yet. It is usually begins near the end of July. Nothing coming out of our garden will go to waste, even the scraps will be made into broth before they end up in the compost bin in the back yard.
On August 16, 2025, I woke up in the morning to find that my pinky finger had gone to sleep, it was “frozen”. It has not awakened. I’ve tried the exercises and restrictions recommended to me by the doctor, no effect. I tried an exercise recommended by a physiotherapist, it got worse. At last I was sent to a clinic to have my nerves tested. Problems were indeed found. I will go back in another three or four months for followup testing.
The clinic advised me to use a brace at night, to prevent me from bending my arm. I am to keep my arm as straight as possible while asleep. I was worried this would interfere with my sleep. It did not. There is a very good reason it did not.
I tried some great suggestions people made here in the comments. I would wake up to find the splint/sleeve/solution around my wrist, or if it was well secured, it would be completely removed by me while I was asleep. My sleeping self had no respect for my strategies.
So today a package is on the way, an elbow brace designed specifically for sleeping with the arm held straight. Tonight is the night!
We were shopping this morning, mostly for food, and screws for house skirting project. While perusing Giant Tiger, I found a cotton dress on sale. This was quite a find, because it is the first natural fibre clothing item I’ve been able to locate in the women’s wear department. I bought it without trying it on, wish me luck.
The dress, and two cotton t-shirts for Attila that were on sale, were added to the laundry bag at home. I did a load of laundry, using homemade laundry detergent. Then I enjoyed myself on the back porch hanging up the laundry. There is something oh so satisfying hanging up laundry in a back garden.
We have a dryer, purchased for this house when we bought the washing machine. The dryer has been used three or four times, no more. Now it is unplugged and moved into a corner, as we do not use it all. We hang our laundry out on the back porch when the temperature is above freezing, and on racks in the house when the temperature is below freezing. We prefer doing laundry this way, and it saves quite a bit on the electricity bill.
Worldly
Weather
27°C
Date: 2:00 PM EDT Monday 6 July 2026
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.9 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 27.0°C
Dew point: 19.3°C
Humidity: 63%
Wind: ESE 17 km/h
Humidex: 34
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“If only you knew the peace and tranquility I gain from tending and growing my cabbages, you would understand the impossibility of such a request!”
The response of Diocletian when approached by a delegation of friends and former colleagues pleading with him to return to the political arena to use his immense influence and once again set the empire straight.
Diocletian
243 AD – 316 AD
Beautiful cabbages! Now I’m hungry.
Thanks Wendy, these are Winter Keeper cabbages, they are tougher than other varieties, so best well cooked. We love cabbage, so many ways to enjoy it.
I love cooked cabbage but our store cabbage very small compared to yours. Yum!
Sandy, these are the best cabbages that have ever come out of our garden! The compost we bought in the spring is giving our plants a real boost. I love cooked cabbage too!
Wonderful looking cabbages! I’ve had a taste for cabbages recently and have been looking at various recipes. I think I might try a deconstructed cabbage roll recipe some time soon.
How are things going with your pinkie finger?
DH has a nerve/tendon issue with some of his fingers. Our first doctor thought it was hereditary but now years later our new doctor has been doing tests and it looks like it’s arthritis-based. DH has an nerve test appointment coming up, as there are a couple of fingers (pinkie and next finger) now that he can barely move.
Teri, my Mom used to make what we called Cabbage Roll Casserole, all the ingredients of the cabbage rolls, using shredded cabbage, baked in the oven. I make a version of that using the Instant Pot, and I think it would also work well in a crock pot. My recipe makes enough for about three meals for two, but it doesn’t last long enough for the third meal, Attila heats up the leftovers for snacks. My Mom told me that Attila eats more than anyone she has ever met, he eats a lot.
I slept with the new elbow brace last night. It was comfortable enough, and I did not remove it in my sleep. This morning the muscles in my arms are sore, the pinky is still number. I think the muscles are sore because I don’t usually hold my arm straight, and it spent the night being held straight, the unused muscles are complaining.
I think it will take months before I notice any effect on the numbness. I had issues with my hand and fingers some years ago, and it took months to mend. For that I have a hand brace, which I wore at night to prevent me from flexing the wrist. I don’t have any trouble with it now, so the wrist brace worked.
The other thing I am doing is flexing my hands whenever I think about it, at least several times a day. All of my fingers have experienced brief sudden open rigidity, requiring me to manually bend them, then they have been fine. The flexing has helped with that.
That’s disconcerting, having the finger movement and numbness come and go like that.
DH’s problem has been slowly increasing over the years, rather than coming and going, but one time he did have an issue with not being able to lift his arm. They did some tests and it turned out a vertebra in his neck was sometimes pinching a nerve. They gave him a cervical collar that basically put his neck in traction, to take the pressure off the nerve. It took a week or so but eventually the problem went away and has never come back.
When I was in my 30s I was told that the discs in my neck were deteriorating, so I have “flare ups”, and have several different neck braces that I’ve used when it gets painful. The issues with my pinky, so the medical people think, is my funny bone (ulnar nerve).
I’m sorry to say DH also has deteriorating vertebrae, but he didn’t find that out until he was in his 50s.
Sending you hugs. I hope you have only short term flare ups that have very little pain.
Thank you Teri for your kind wishes! Back issues can be very painful, hoping DH is not in too much pain!